The Boy With the GravityDefying Hair
by lauraxtennant
Summary: Sequel to 'Five Times People Asked Rose Tyler...'  The Doctor felt a sharp prod in his mind the minute he stepped out of the TARDIS. It tickled more and more as he walked. He put it down to nerves about being within the proximity of Rose Tyler again.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Boy With the Gravity-Defying Hair**_

_::_

_The Doctor felt a sharp prod in his mind the minute he stepped out of the TARDIS. It tickled more and more as he walked._

_He put it down to nerves about being within the proximity of Rose Tyler again._

_::_

The Doctor was excited. Very, very excited. He could barely remember to _breathe, _he was so excited. He was finally going to see her again. Well, if she let him. He wasn't sure how long it had been for her. Whether she had moved on or not, though, he was practically bouncing with energy, utterly convinced he would get the chance to put things right with her, and at the very least get to tell her how much he loved her.

He walked past a few hedges and down a couple of pathways lined with daffodils and then, as he looked straight ahead, he was confronted by a young boy on a swing.

"Who are you?" the boy asked, a bit rudely, as he swung to a stop.

"Who are _you?" _the Doctor retorted, also a bit rudely, as he stepped closer.

When he got a proper look and within a couple of metres' distance of him, the connection he felt to the little boy was instantaneous. It was almost as if...but no. No, it couldn't be. It was _impossible_.

And yet, as he stared at the child in complete astonishment, he couldn't help but notice his hair was the same shade and sticky-upiness of his own hair. And he had...

He swallowed thickly as he admitted this to himself.

...he had her eyes.

Because plenty of people had big, wide, brown eyes – like himself, for instance – but these...these were _exactly like hers. _Even down to the tiny flecks of gold.

And said eyes were staring up at him with an equally baffled expression.

The Doctor cleared his throat and held out his hand. The little boy looked at it warily as he said, "Hello. I'm the Doctor." The boy's eyebrows leapt to his hairline, and he instantly thrust his hand into the man's, holding it firmly rather than shaking it in greeting like he might've expected.

The Doctor beamed down at the boy, squeezing his hand in reassurance. "And what's your name, then?" he asked, his voice wavering with emotion.

"Josh," the boy murmured, a slow smile working its way onto his face. "Mum's been waiting for you," he added.

A lump came to the Doctor's throat and he crouched down to Joshua's eye level. "And where is Mum right now?" he asked softly.

"We're in Nana's garden at the moment. Mum's inside, just up there..." Joshua pointed at the large house. "Shall I take you there?"

The Doctor almost cried with relief and he nodded quickly. "Yes, please." He paused, biting his lip thoughtfully. "Do you know who I am?"

Joshua grinned at him, then. "Of course I do," he answered. He let go of the Doctor's hand and wrapped his arms around his neck, giving him a big hug. The Doctor squeezed back, and stood with him still in his arms, holding him to him like he never wanted to let go. Joshua squealed in boyish delight as the Doctor started to run up to the house, clinging on tight. The Doctor laughed, too - a full, hearty, happy laugh - and it felt like years since he'd last done so. It probably was.

When they reached the back doors, Joshua scrambled down from the Doctor's grasp, realising that he was acting like a little kid - when seriously, now, he was practically a _grown up, _nearly, almost, perhaps, but honestly, he'd never met the man before so could you blame him for being a bit clingy upon their first greetings? nah, course not - and said, "You wait here for a second, yeah? I want to tell Mum I've brought her a surprise." The Doctor nodded, unable to remove the wide grin from his face. Joshua turned to go inside, but then span back around as he remembered he ought to tell him something, "It's April 27th, today, just so you know."

The Doctor's eyes widened in delight and he let out a low whistle. "She's going to have the best birthday _ever," _he told Joshua wisely. "How old is she now? How old are _you?"_

The boy smiled secretively. "That would be telling," he said. And with that mysterious response, he went into the house. The Doctor rolled his eyes. He'd obviously inherited his enigmatic streak. He shifted from foot to foot nervously, even more restless with excitement than earlier, and he couldn't wait for her to come outside.

It was five minutes later, as the Doctor had begun pacing up and down in front of the rose bushes, that he heard the doors open again. He turned instantly, expecting to see her, but it was Joshua, standing alone. "Joshua, where is she?" the Doctor asked in a panicked voice, running through all the possibilities in his head.

Joshua sighed. "It's _Josh," _he corrected long-sufferingly, as if he had to do that a lot. "And she said she'll come down in a minute. She's busy."

The Doctor scoffed. "Busy? She wouldn't say that if she knew what her surprise present was," he said cockily. "Let me just go to her, now."

Joshua held the door open for him. "Fine. But don't blame me when she has a heart attack when you sneak up on her."

He looked at the boy like he was stupid. "I won't sneak up on her. Is she upstairs?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Yep," Joshua replied, popping the 'p.' The Doctor grinned, and swiftly sprinted for the stairs. "Oh, and Dad?" Joshua added.

The Doctor's step faltered and he went very still. Turning his head slowly to look at him, he hoped his son couldn't see the tears in his eyes. "Yeah?" he replied hoarsely.

"She's in the bath," he smiled.

The Doctor's eyes lit up. "Well, then. She's not _that _busy," he answered cheekily, before bounding up the rest of the stairs.

Once he got to the landing, it was easy to find the bathroom. He just followed the sound of Rose singing, and then knocked on the door tentatively.

"Sweetheart, I'll be down in a sec, yeah? Just let me have a nice, relaxing bath for a bit. It _is _my birthday," she called out, expecting it to be Joshua at the door again.

The Doctor smiled, and twisted the door knob, entering anyway. His breath hitched as he saw her, for the first time in _years, _lying with her eyes closed amongst the bubbles.

"Josh, I said - " she began patiently. But when she opened her eyes her words caught in her throat.


	2. Chapter 2

_Part 2_

They stared at each other silently for a few moments, neither able to speak because of the beautiful sight that was the other before their very eyes.

The Doctor broke the intense quiet first. "Hello, Rose," he whispered, his voice cracking on her name. "Happy birthday." The tears he'd been holding in started spilling over his eyelids and tumbled down his cheeks silently as he watched her slowly stand up. Water sluiced down her body and he couldn't help but let his eyes rove all over her, aching to hold her, to follow the path of the bathwater across her beautiful curves. She hadn't changed a bit, but it was still _so much better _to see her like this once more, instead of relying on memories and dreams where she was untouchable.

Her shell-shocked face finally broke out into a smile. "You're really here, yeah?" she asked quietly.

He beamed at her. "I really am."

Her tongue touched the corner of her mouth as she teased him with her mischievous smile. "Then what are you doing standing all the way over there?" she asked him wonderingly.

He closed the distance between them instantly, his hands getting lost in her hair as he tugged her mouth to his, kissing her passionately. She shivered against him and his hands left her hair to travel down her bare back, coming to rest on her hips, pulling her as close as he could with her still standing in the bathtub. His suit was getting wet but he did not care in the slightest; rather, he was delighted...it was proof she was really here, he was really holding her, they were together in the same universe again, the same _room._

She shivered again and reached behind him, grabbing her towel, then broke their kiss to wrap it around herself. He pouted adorably.

"Let me get out of the bath," she murmured. She suddenly looked very worried. "I've got something to tell you."

He smiled gently and offered her his hand, which she took gratefully as she climbed out of the bath. "It's okay, Rose...I know."

She met his gaze questioningly. "Doctor?" she prompted.

"He called me Dad," he whispered, his voice full of emotion.

Her breathing quickened and she cupped his cheek in her hand. "I'm so sorry," she whispered back earnestly. "I'm so sorry I lied to you, I just..." she trailed off, starting to cry.

He brought her close again, running his hand through her hair comfortingly. "Hey, it's alright," he murmured. "Rose, everything's gonna be alright."

"I thought we were never going to see each other again," she cried. "And I just thought that if I told you about our baby, it would break your hearts, and I couldn't bear that...you knowing, but not being able to see him grow up, and..."

"Oh, Rose," he sighed, kissing the top of her head. "My hearts were already broken. But I'm here now," he added. "And I'm never leaving you, not ever."

She clutched to his jacket lapels, trying to gather herself. "I...how long has it been for you?" she asked him.

He tilted her head up to face him. "Too long. Far, far too long...but not as long as it's been for you, I think, if Josh's age is anything to go by," he confessed.

Rose stiffened in his arms. "Josh told you how old he is?"

He frowned at her, confused by her sudden tense posture and frantic eyes. "Well, no...I just thought...well, he looks about eight, nine...right?" He searched her eyes, then his gaze drifted to the corners of them, then her forehead...he lifted her hand, looked at that, too. His own hand rose to her face again and the pad of his thumb swept across her lips before he leaned in and kissed her again, gently this time, briefly. He pulled back, and screwed his eyes up in concentration. Rose couldn't help but giggle at how befuddled he looked. He opened his eyes and mock-glared at her for laughing at him. Then he really did grow serious. "Rose, why can't I tell?"

"Tell what?" she replied casually, avoiding meeting his gaze.

"How old you are..." he clarified. "See, you don't look a day older than...ooh, I'd say, twenty-one? Not an extra wrinkle in sight. And yet, if Josh is about eight or nine, then you've got to be at least the other end of your twenties. I mean, he's part-Time Lord, so of course, perhaps he's younger and looks older, acts older, thinks older...he must be a hundred times cleverer than his schoolmates, that's for certain...but...but then, that still doesn't solve the problem that is _you, _looking _exactly the same naked. _And I mean _exactly. _I know you, Rose Tyler, and your naked body. And..." he decided to demonstrate his point by unwrapping her towel, letting it slide to the floor, leaving her naked again. "...there are absolutely no signs of you having carried a baby, let alone given birth to one."

She swallowed thickly, and was about to reply when she heard a car pull up outside. Her eyes widened at the sound, and she quickly bent down to retrieve the towel, once more hiding herself from his penetrating gaze. "Come on, let's go to the bedroom to talk about this," she said hurriedly, shoving him out of the bathroom and towards her doorway.

"What it is?" he asked. "What's wrong, where's the hurry?"

She rolled her eyes impatiently and closed her bedroom door behind her when they'd entered. Quickly, she dropped the towel and put on her dressing gown, tying it firmly. "Right. You need to stay in here for a moment. I'll bring us some tea - "

" – Rose, whose car pulled up just now? Is it your Mum and Pete? 'Cos I'd like to see them again, I don't know why you're trying to hide me from them, I - "

"Just leave it for a minute, okay? I'll be back," she promised. "Please stay here. Please?"

He sighed, rubbing at his eyes wearily. "Well, yes, alright." He couldn't deny her anything, even now, even though he didn't understand what was actually going on.

"Thanks," she smiled, relieved. She pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "See you in a sec."

The Doctor sat down heavily on her bed when she left, wondering what the hell she was keeping from him.


	3. Chapter 3

_Part 3_

"Josh?" Rose called, as she went downstairs. "Joshua?" She caught sight of him playing outside through the window, and ignored Jackie calling her as she went to talk to him.

"Hi Mum," Joshua beamed when he saw her. "Is this the happiest day of your life?"

Rose's heart melted at her son's words. "Yeah, sweetheart, it could be. Apart from having you, of course." Joshua rolled his eyes but let his mum pull him towards her for a warm cuddle. "Now, I need you to promise me not to tell Nana and Grandad that your Dad's here yet, alright? I don't want them hurrying up to see him and giving him the shock of his life, okay?"

He nodded dutifully, but said, "You're going to have to tell him today, Mum."

"I know," she insisted. "I know. Just not _right _now. Can you see if you can lure your grandparents out for the day? Beg them to take you to the park or something?"

"But they've just come back with all the barbeque stuff, I think," he protested. "I thought we were doing that today, for your birthday. They'll be suspicious if you send us out. Anyway, I was looking forward to it...got games out and everything! And now that Dad's here, we could have such a fun day!"

Rose sighed, biting her lip thoughtfully. "Well, I'll just...I'll say I'm not feeling so great. We can do the barbeque tomorrow, I promise. Uncle Mickey will be able to come then, too – he was working today, remember? But he's off tomorrow. And Jake and everyone. So we can have a big party, yeah?"

"I don't want you to hog Dad to yourself, though, I've only just met him. I can't wait to talk to him about mathematics and quantum physics and the structure of the atmosphere! I've got _so _many questions to ask him!" He paused, and swallowed nervously in that way that always reminded Rose of his father. "He will still be here, right?" he asked hopefully.

"Bloody hope so," Rose retorted. She glanced away for a moment, remembering all their time alone. The pain of him saying goodbye was still so fresh in her mind, even after all these years.

"Fine," Joshua huffed, relenting. He'd do anything for his mum, that was his problem. Even lie for her. "You do realise that next time you tell me off for making up stories, I'm going to remind you of today, yeah?"

Her face broke into a grin. "Of course!" she laughed, squeezing him tight. "Thank you, darling."

::

After much protesting, Jackie and Pete agreed with the plan of postponing the party, and took Joshua out for the day. Before he turned away, her little boy winked at her and mouthed 'good luck.' She laughed warmly and waved him goodbye, closing the front door with a wistful sigh. Then, she made her way back to her bedroom.

Opening the door, she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. She climbed onto her bed next to where the Doctor was curled up around her pillow, obviously having fallen asleep clutching it like a little boy. She shook his shoulder gently. "Doctor?" she whispered.

He mumbled something mostly incoherent about how lovely Rose's pillow smelt, and rolled on his back to blink up at her sleepily. "Sorry," he murmured, yawning. "Bit of a while since I've slept. And you were taking so long, and your bed felt so comfy, and your pillow smelt of you, and...yeah," he smiled sheepishly.

She stroked his hair from his forehead tenderly. "I've missed you so much," she whispered.

"Not as much as I've missed you," he countered. He lifted his hand to drag her down for a kiss. As the kiss faded out, she snuggled into his arms and rested her head on his chest, relishing in the feel of him running his hand up and down her arm in that affectionate way he'd always done. "Tell me about our little boy, Rose."

She smiled. "He's wonderful, Doctor. Really, really wonderful."

"Well, obviously," he replied smugly, "He's got us as parents." He stroked her hair. "You as a mother, bringing him up so perfectly for us," he added softly. "But what's he like? When did he take his first steps? What was his first word?"

"Oh, now _that, _I swear, is all your fault – his first word was _banana. _I mean, what the hell? Is it some sort of Time Lord obsession? I tell him to say _mummy _every flipping day and he gives me nothing, and then once, just once, I ask him if he fancies a banana and _bam. '_Banana!' he giggles, nodding his cute little head at me like I've told him it's Christmas," she laughed.

"That's my boy," he grinned into her hair.

"Yeah," she exhaled roughly. "I'm so sorry you couldn't see him as a baby...a toddler, even. He was such a troublemaker, though. I could've used you around to help, actually – kept me up all night, every night when he was teething, he did."

The Doctor wrapped his arms more fully around her, squeezing her tightly. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner. I really am, Rose. I tried..." he trailed off, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"I know, Doctor," she replied. "I know you did."

"Now, you need to tell me what's going on with all your secrets, Rose Tyler," he said then.

She lifted her head. "What secrets?"

"Don't give me that," he argued, playfully tickling her neck.

She giggled and folded her arms on his chest to prop her chin on them as she stared up at him. "It's just one secret," she said honestly. "And I promise I will tell you. But can't we have just one day together where I don't have to?" He frowned but she fluttered her eyelashes at him. "Please?" she repeated hopefully.

"Alright, alright," he relented. "But what have you done with our son? I want to get to know him."

"There'll be time for that later...I sent Mum and Dad out with him..." He looked ready to protest at her for it but she silenced him with a Look. "Doctor, he'll be back in a few hours..." She trailed her eyes around the room. "...oh, and look...we're all alone..."

He caught onto her suggestion then, and grinned widely. "Well, I s'pose...if this is the last chance we're going to get alone time before we start our life as a proper little family..." he realised devilishly.

She sighed contentedly at his words. "You really mean that? The family thing, I mean? 'Cos I wasn't sure, you know, that you'd be pleased about this...the whole domestic thing...I said to Mum that I knew you'd be scared at first, but I reckoned you'd be...well, happy, I suppose, once you got over the shock...but...are you?"

"Yes," he assured her. "Rose, I admit, I am terrified. Mostly of losing you again. And him. See, the thing is..." He paused, and stared deep into her eyes. "The thing is, I spent all my life not knowing that I needed you, Rose Tyler. And then I found you, and it was glorious. But then I lost you, and I honestly didn't know how I could have ever lived without you. And now I find you again, and our little boy, and..." He let out a whoosh of breath. "It's perfect. And I'm never going to let you go again. _Never."_

"Good," Rose replied quietly, blinking back tears. "But what's going to happen now?"

He tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. "Whatever you want, Rose."

"But the TARDIS, she can't fly in this universe, can she?" she persisted.

"No," he admitted. "But she's okay. We can stay for as long as you want."

"Where is she?" Rose asked, suddenly getting butterflies in her tummy at the thought of seeing her old beloved home again.

"Parked just outside the jewellers on Hampton Road." He paused, suddenly registering that. "I think she might be trying to tell me something," he chuckled.

"You didn't crash, then?" she asked, firmly avoiding a conversation regarding the TARDIS' choice of destination.

"Nope," he answered. "No, I...well, I'll save the technical talk for later. Basically we found a route back together. _Such _a fantastic ship, my TARDIS. Misses you almost as much as me, so...yeah. I'll take you to her soon, but give her a day or so to recuperate. She'd hate for you to see her not looking her best."

Rose laughed happily and leant closer to him, brushing her nose against his affectionately.

"Will Josh want to leave?" the Doctor asked quietly. "All his friends, your parents- "

"He's always known he's different," she interrupted swiftly. "He's always known this day would come."

"You have that much faith in me? That I'd manage to figure out how to get you back?"

"I hoped so, yeah. And he knows I can't hang around here forever. It's so _boring _standing still, you wouldn't _believe _the times I've felt like grabbing our passports and legging it to the other side of the World, just for the sake of it! He's the same, though. Got wanderlust in his blood, our son," she beamed proudly.

"How strange," the Doctor said sarcastically, his eyes alight with happiness. He tilted his head to capture her lips in a soft kiss, then whispered, "I love you, Rose Tyler."

"After all this time?" she asked cheekily, arching an eyebrow.

"Always," he answered, with a soft smile.

"I love you too," she whispered back, before pressing her mouth to his again.

He rolled them over until she was on her back beneath him. Pulling back, he breathed out roughly, "Bet I love you more."

She ruffled his hair. "Daft man. Everything's equal with us," she corrected.

He grinned. "So you'll take the TARDIS' advice, then?"

"What do you mean?" she replied, baffled.

"Weeellll..." He reached for her hand and lifted it in front of their faces, looking pointedly at her ring finger.

Rose's eyes widened theatrically. "You know when you landed in this universe, did you take a knock to the head?"

He frowned, disappointed by her lack of enthusiasm. "No, why?" he asked petulantly. "You made your vows a long time ago, Rose Tyler. 'Forever,' you said. 'Never gonna leave you,' you said. 'You're stuck with me,' you said. Now it's time for me to make my vows to you."

She swallowed nervously. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Marry me," he whispered. "You're already the mother of my child - we're already going a bit domestic. Might as well go the whole hog. Just don't tell your mother – I'm _not _being forced into a big, massive celebrity-esque wedding, that would be going too – "

He never finished that sentence, because Rose firmly secured his mouth with much better activities that talking. For him, that was answer enough.


	4. Chapter 4

_Part 4_

A few hours later, snuggled together beneath the duvet, the Doctor murmured to Rose, "Something's happened, hasn't it? Something that you're scared to tell me about. What is it? I know you said you wanted to wait to tell me, but…the suspense is killing me."

She sighed softly. "I s'pose it's best I tell you sooner rather than later," she acknowledged.

"You've not married someone else or something equally distressing, have you?" he joked.

Rose laughed. "Nope. Definitely not."

He nuzzled the top of her head and whispered knowingly, "It's to do with Josh's age, isn't it."

"Yeah," she breathed out unsteadily. "He's a few years older than he looks. Obviously, intellectually, he's far older as well. But he doesn't look it because he ages more slowly, so he still kind of seems like a little boy. Time Lord genes for him, I guess; I mean, you're the cleverest being in the universe, but you've still always been quite immature." She paused, and he didn't contest her words, just stared at her silently. "But, it's not just him. I'm ageing slowly too. In fact, it's even slower with me."

"Or, in fact, not at all," he whispered, shifting down to meet her gaze.

Rose bit her lip. "You think so?"

"That's what it looks like."

"Josh is fifteen, really," she said quietly. "Mum and Pete look their age; she's actually embraced the grey, you know. That's why I didn't want you to see them straight away – thought you might guess that they're in their fifties and then realise what that meant about how long we've been here. And I've been nervous about telling you, 'cos…well. I didn't know what you'd say, and I didn't really want to know what this means for me."

"Oh, Rose. I don't know _what_ to say."

She let out a shaky breath. "But I...I'm...I'm not immortal, right? Not like Jack is. Not completely..."

"I don't know," the Doctor answered apologetically. "I'll have to let the TARDIS do some tests."

"Is it because of Josh?"

The Doctor nodded. "So it would seem. Or possibly to do with Bad Wolf. Both, most likely."

"Right. Yeah. That's what I thought."

"You see, you're human, you're not exactly equipped with everything necessary to carry a half-Gallifreyan baby to full term. Remarkably, you somehow did. Something in your biological makeup must have changed during the pregnancy, aided by the fact that you'd absorbed the Time Vortex all that time ago. I certainly didn't notice anything different about you before we were separated, so that means the alterations must have occurred further through the foetus' stage of development."

"So you're saying I'm not completely me any more?"

"You are very much you, Rose Tyler. You're simply magnificent, able to do impossible things and provide an actual real-life miracle for someone who hasn't seen such a thing in nine centuries."

"Doctor," she murmured.

"Hmm?"

"Honestly, how long do you think this will last for? Is it a permanent change? I'm supposed to be thirty-six. Will I ever look older than this? How has it altered my life expectancy?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry. As soon as we go to visit the TARDIS, we'll take a proper look."

There was a tense silence for a few moments, until the Doctor felt like he desperately needed to ask her his question:

"Would it be so bad, if it means we could have forever together?"

The corner of her mouth lifted up in a half-smile. "I want that more than anything. But you have to understand; if this means I can't die at _all._..yet you still can, one day, when all your regenerations have been used up...it's a reversal of how things used to be with us, and that's...that's horrible, I can't imagine being with you for all those years, centuries, then watching you go before _me..._it's just...I can't even..."

He reached for her hands, squeezing tightly. "I know. Let's hope that for some reason, we'll simply get to spend the rest of our lives together."

"Yeah," she offered him a watery smile.

They heard a car pull up outside. "Sounds like that's the end of our peace and quiet," he murmured with a grin.

"We'd better get dressed," she surmised, listening to her parents and Josh talking as they walked up the path to the front door.

"Mmm." He bent his head to give her a lingering kiss. "We'll sort everything out, Rose. Don't worry. Everything's going to be wonderful," he assured her.

She nodded, and flung back the duvet. "Come on then. Seize the day and all that."

He smiled. "Yes. Indeed."


End file.
